Create a hover-over effect on a slide

A subscriber recently asked me, “I am currently trying to figure out if it is possible to hover over text and have an image pop up when I hover over the text, like you do on most websites these days.  Do you know if this is possible in PowerPoint?”

You’ve probably seen websites with pop-up menus. You hover the cursor over a button and a sub-menu opens. Here’s an example from Amazon.com’s website:

Can you do that in PowerPoint? Not exactly, at least not without some programming. But you can hover the mouse over an object on a slide and make three things happen:

• You can hyperlink to another location
• You can open another program
• You can play a WAV sound

You can fake the menu-flyout-on-hover effect using the first option, a hyperlink to another slide. First, watch how it looks.

To create this effect, follow these steps:

Create a slide by inserting the objects you want to hover over. Here’s the first slide.

In this case, I inserted two objects. Each object will hyperlink to its own slide when you hover the cursor over it, so this project needs two additional slides.

Duplicate the first slide as many times as you need for your situation. Each slide then has the original shapes in the same location. This is important for the seamless look of the menu; the fact that you’re going to another slide won’t be obvious.

These slides need the pop-up object on them. As you can see, I’ve added another shape, with the answer to the questions. I also added a Return shape which will hyperlink to the first slide with the questions. These are slides 2 and 3.

Return to the first slide and select the shape that you want to hover over. Go to Insert tab> Links group> Action. (In PowerPoint 2003, go to Slide Show> Action Settings) In the Action Settings dialog box, click the Mouse Over tab.

Select the Hyperlink To option. Then choose the appropriate slide from the drop-down list. For the first shape, I chose Next Slide as you see above. Click OK to create the hyperlink. For the second shape, I chose Slide, which opened a list of slides; there I chose the 3rd slide. Make sure you’re on the Mouse Over tab for each hyperlink you add, because it isn’t the default tab.

For the Return shape on Slide 2, I chose Last Slide Viewed. Then I copied and pasted that to Slide 3.

To create the effect of the second shape sliding down from the first, you use animation. Go to the second slide and select the shape you added. Go to Animations tab> Custom Animation to open the Animation task pane. (In PowerPoint 2003, choose Slide Show> Custom Animation. In PowerPoint 2010, you’ll work on the ribbon.) In the Custom Animation task pane, choose Add Effect> Entrance> More Effects (if Peek In isn’t on the list)> Peek In. Click OK if you opened the Add Entrance Effect dialog box. In PowerPoint 2010, click the Add Animation button to find these options.

From the Start drop-down list, choose With Previous. This makes the sliding down effect happen automatically when you display the slide using the hyperlink. Set the Direction to From Top. (In PowerPoint 2010, you’ll find this setting by clicking the Effect Options button on the ribbon.) Here are the settings:

Save and go into Slide Show View. Hover the mouse over the shape on Slide 1. You’ll go to Slide 2, but because it’s the same as Slide 1 except for the Peek In animation, it seems as if the second shape slides down on the original slide. Hover your cursor over the Return button. This returns you to Slide 1. Test any other shapes and effects that you created.

Like it? Download the presentation.

Related posts:

1. Create the effect of a line drawing itself
2. Create a drop-down menu
3. Create a looping introduction
4. Create a cascading animation effect
5. Add flexibility with custom shows